This month’s interview for Admin brought me to Phoenix Blue. I have to be honest, I was excited to do this one; because before the interview I really did not know much about him. His real name is Don Branum and he is a photojournalist and webmaster for the U.S. Air Force, currently stationed at the Air Force Academy. “Before that, I was at Schriever Air Force Base, so I’ve been in the Colorado Springs, Colo., area for going on five years. I’m married to a wonderful young lady named Katy (on MysticWicks as WandererInGray), who’s working hard to become published as a writer, and we celebrated our fifth anniversary last Christmas Eve.”

What makes the holiday season worth celebrating, for me, is the chance to be with family; the chance to watch relatives and friends pull presents out from under the tree and unwrap them … and maybe unwrap a few of my own; the chance to share a meal and a spirited conversation at the dining room table; and the chance to retire afterward and settle in for a good night’s sleep with my sweetie. A white Yule is an added bonus.

A sandstorm blankets the sky above Joint Base Balad, Iraq, in a red haze Sept. 15, 2008. Heavy sandstorms, sometimes called haboobs, are created when a thunderstorm cell collapses, pulling sand thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Taken with a Nikon D40x; f/5.6, 1/80 sec at ISO 1600. (photo by Phoenix Blue)